A few thoughts about Films,Games, Television amongst other things.

Pokemon Generations Ep1

Pokémon Generations seems like a great premise for a short web based video series and the first episode both captured that feeling of nostalgia that it needed to and successfully fit it into just of 3 minutes of video. However the nostalgia I felt was more like a distorted memory.

The thrill of seeing things I remembered more from the Pokémon games and adventures I had played through more than the TV show, was quickly replaced by a feeling of uncomfortableness. Watching the Pokémon do battle, was far more unsettling than it had ever appeared in the TV show or the movies. It felt like I was watching a dog fight or real animals fighting. What makes it worse is Pikachu has a higher pitched voice than I was ever used to hearing, this made it feel crueler still. There was a definite feeling of enslavement about the capturing of Pokémon and the aspect of making them do your bidding and fight for you in order to further your own personal gain. Not once did the bond between trainer and Pokémon get displayed in a positive light the way it always has done in other media across the years. I should state though no harm ever came to Pikachu of course and it beat all the odds stacked against it, so at least the animators got that decision right.

The appearance of various powerful Pokémon from across the generations was very cool to see as it really felt like a walk through my memories of discovering and trying to catch them all. But despite this I feel the episode was no more than a large trailer for Pokémon showing its history and a hint at the future right at the end of the episode.

In many ways I guess that’s what this web series is going to be, a series of trailers and ‘lore’ builders to try and get people excited for the upcoming release of Pokémon Sun and Moon. A way to try and recapture the imaginations of those who grew up with and have since put down the games, and entice new gamers to come experience this behemoth franchise.

Overall:

Episode 1 of Pokémon Generations is a neat trip down nostalgia lane, albeit one that is just slightly different than you remember and certainly not for the better. While both exciting me for the world of Pokémon it also slightly unsettled me by the prospect of essentially enslavement and gladiatorial fighting of animals.

Score: 5/10 – Ok

Update:

The reviews for episodes 1 and 2 of pokemon generations are coming however my computer is deciding to update very slowly and therefore it could be tomorow (Saturday 17th September) that the reviews will now go live.